King Flashypants and the Evil Emperor by Andy Riley #bookreview

Book review: "Edwin wasn't an ordinary nine-year-old... Edwin was the ruler of the kingdom of Edwinland." It's a nice kingdom until... "Your Majesty? The money's all gone."

Meanwhile in neighbouring Nurbisonia Emperor Nurbison has his eye on "Edwinland! Ruled by that moon-faced boy with that ridiculous shining crown he loves so much. He's a proper little king flashypants." Seeing the trouble caused in Edwinland by all the money disappearing Emperor Nurbison sees his chance and strikes.

The story has plenty of humour which is enhanced by the drawings throughout which are also done by the author. And, of course, King Flashypants comes out on top at the end. Looking forward to the next one. 

Available on AMAZON HERE.

Claude All at Sea by Alex T. Smith #bookreview

Book review: I got this for my children. One mentioned that her friend read Claude the dog books so she was familiar with the character already. Claude is also set to shortly have his own TV show on Disney Junior.

This story is of Claude and his friend Sir Bobblysock who always have adventures together when Claude's owners, Mr and Mrs Shinyshoes, go out to work. This time the adventure takes them out to sea.

All through the books are nice illustrations made of a limited colour palette (red, blue, black, grey, white, yellow) which make the book very appealing visually. The story is also fast-moving and succinct. There is a spelling mistake in there where Sir Bobblysock gets called Sir Bobbysock in one place but the children of course love it.

Available on Amazon: CLAUDE ALL AT SEA

How to Draw Mr. Men by Roger Hargreaves #bookreview

Book review: I got this for my 5 and 9-year-old daughters. It is a nice package with a hard-back cover that opens to reveal a "How to Draw Book" on the left and a "Sketch Book" on the right.

The "How to Draw Book" contains step-by-step instructions on how to draw: Mr Happy, Mr Grumpy, Mr Greedy, Mr Tall, Little Miss Sunshine, Mr Cool, Little Miss Naughty, Mr Strong, Mr Bump, Little Miss Giggles, Mr Tickle, Mr Bounce, Little Miss Princess, Mr Messy, plus a page that contains pictures of all the other Mr Men and Little Misses so you can have a go at them. You can do these in the enclosed sketchbook if you want or elsewhere.

In addition to providing some blank pages to draw on the sketchbook also contains some Mr Men stencils and stickers, plus some fun exercises.

My girls loved creating Mr Men and tested me to see if I could recognise who they'd drawn. And there is still more fun to come.

Available to pre-order on AMAZON here (released 06/Oct/2016): HOW TO DRAW MR MEN 

Frozen: Back-to-School Kit by Disney Learning #bookreview

Book review: This little kit contains five A5 full-colour 16-page booklets. There are books for: 

• Adding
• Subtracting
• Reading and Comprehension
• Words to Read and Learn
• Sticker Book

My daughter is between Reception and Year 1. She has been doing these books today. She gives them 5 stars. They hold the interest. This is because they have variety to them, not only across the books but also within the books with the activities being different. Also she hasn't found the books too difficult which is another thing that can turn her off these sort of things. These workbooks seem the correct difficulty for her (age 5-6 as stated on the product) and contain concepts she has come across at school, like the number line. Another good point is the reward element with one of the books being the sticker book, which she can't wait for although she has to wait until the other books are done first (each with a certificate page at the end that she can put her name on once she has completed them). Lastly these are Frozen themed and the theme doesn't seem to be just tacked on as it sometimes can be - the tasks include the Frozen characters. 

So although short and likely to be completed within a day these are still worth it for my 5-year-old daughter as she prepares to go back to school in September.

These are available on Amazon for £6.99 HERE.

Charlie and Lola: One Thing by Lauren Child #bookreview

Charlie and Lola: One Thing by Lauren Child #bookreview: I've just read this with my five-year-old daughter. She said, "that was a funny story." Indeed that's what you'd expect from a Charlie and Lola book right from the start with the familiar opening refrain of "I have this sister Lola. She is small and very funny."

Lola spends the book getting distracted by the world around her as she counts the dots on her dress or the leaves on the tree whilst Charlie is helping her learn her numbers. This is whilst they go to the shop with their mum so they can choose "one thing", 

The book is done in the normal art style of the Charlie and Lola books with a few real life images enhancing the pictures. The text is all over the place. It makes it interesting to look at even if you can't read. And with numeracy at the core of the story, it makes maths fun, whether that be adding, taking away, multiplying, telling the time, or counting to a squillion.

You expect a lot from Charlie and Lola books and this one delivers.

Available on Amazon HERE.

Real Life Family Photography by Amy Drucker

REAL LIFE FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK REVIEW: What comes across most in this book about real life family photography is the author's passion for the subject, for her family and for photography. Across four main chapters (The Basics, Babies, Kids and Family) she gives tips and tricks of the trade whilst showing off lots of glossy colour photos to illustrate the points. Her main aim: "I want to encourage you to just keep photographing" and I think in that respect the book works.

The basics section introduces concepts such as exposure and aperture but you'll still need to refer to your camera's instruction manual to work it as this book is "less about the technical perfection than it is about subject matter and vision." Indeed I found tips on basic creative principles such as composition more useful and understandable for me as an amateur. Also interesting are bits of the book on photo editing software, such as Photoshop, and a section on the camera phone. ("I love my camera phone. You can't do everything with [it], but where it shines is its portability. 

All-in-all this is an inspiring book as it encourages you to take photos that "may seem mundane to you now, but one day, I promise, you'll cherish the slice of life, as they were at that moment in time." 

Available on Amazon HERE.